WILMINGTON, N.C. (August 8, 2015) – New York Red Bulls II fell to Wilmington Hammerheads FC on the road, 4-2. Marius Obekop opened the scoring for New York in the 31st minute to level the match and Chris Tsonis pulled one back in the 80th minute in the defeat.
The loss drops New York Red Bulls II to 9-8-5 on the season.
Wilmington jumped on the match early, thanks to a goal scored on the volley by Stefan Defragger. However, New York appeared to settle into the match after the opening goal and began seeing more possession.
Franklin Castellanos picked up a knock and had to be subbed off in the 28th minute for Manolo Sanchez.
Red Bulls II leveled the match in the 31st minute when Colin Heffron, deep in his own half, spotted Obekop making a run at the Hammerheads defense. Heffron’s long-ball found Obekop alone in space and he coolly placed the ball in the back of the net past a charging goalkeeper to tie the game at one.
The match did not remain tied for long, however, and Wilmington’s Defragger grabbed his brace in the 35th minute. Just before the halftime whistle, Qudus Lawal got in behind New York’s defense and drilled a shot past the diving Santiago Castano to extend the Hammerheads’ lead to two.
Wilmington showed no signs of letting up in the second half, and eventually earned a penalty kick in the 60th minute when James Thomas brought down an attacker in the penalty box. Thomas was cautioned and Konrad Plewa also received a booking before Brian Ackley stepped up and converted the penalty kick to make it a 4-1 Wilmington advantage.
With New York pressing high in the late stages of the match, Obekop laid off a ball to Plewa who on the left flank about 25-yards out. The defender spotted Tsonis in the box and whipped in a cross which was headed in by the forward for his fifth goal of the season.
In the 84th minute, Plewa brought down a Wilmington player, earned his second yellow card of the match and was ejected from the game.
New York Red Bulls II will play their next match on Wednesday, August 12 against Charlotte Independence at 7:30 p.m. EDT (TICKETS: NYRB II vs. Charlotte Independence; WATCH: Live stream available on NewYorkRedBulls.com/Live).
Scoring Summary
WIL: Stefan Defragger (Will Heaney) 19’
NY: Marius Obekop (Colin Heffron) 31’
WIL: Stefan Defragger (Qudus Lawal) 35’
WIL: Qudus Lawal 45+’
WIL: Brian Ackley (PK) 61’
NY: Chris Tsonis (Konrad Plewa) 80’
Discipline Summary
NY: Shawn McLaws, Caution 41’
NY: James Thomas, Caution 60’
NY: Konrad Plewa, Caution 60’
NY: Konrad Plewa, Ejection 84’
WIL: Brian Ackley, Caution 88’
Lineups
NY: Santiago Castano; Shawn McLaws, Konrad Plewa, Colin Heffron (Alex Clay, 77’), Mike Da Fonte (James Thomas, 46’); Bolu Akinyode, Leo Stolz, Daniel Bedoya (Devon Williams, 65’); Franklin Castellanos (Manolo Sanchez, 28’), Stefano Bonomo (Chris Tsonis, 61’), Marius Obekop
Unused Substitutes: Rafael Diaz, Victor Manosalvas
WIL: Andre Rawls, Andrae Campbell, Tom Parratt, Fran Martinez, Troy Cole, Christian Bassagog (Sunny Jane, 62’), Paul Nicholson, Stefan Defregger, Brian Ackley, Will Heaney (Aaron Wheeler, 78’), Qudus Lawal (Marc Godelman, 57’)
Unused Substitutes: Larry Jackson, Ross Tomaselli, Justin Moose, Cody Arnoux
